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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28747896">over the weekend we could turn the world to gold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/iyerion/pseuds/iyerion'>iyerion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - High School, Candy, Fluff, Hwang Hyunjin is Whipped, Hwang Hyunjin-centric, Kissing, Lollipops, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mentioned Kim Seungmin, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Yang Jeongin | I.N is Whipped, hand holding, kind of, the other members arent really mentioned sorry, theres a tiny bit of angst but blink and you miss it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:27:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28747896</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/iyerion/pseuds/iyerion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I forgot these lollipops in my locker.” </p><p>Jeongin placed the large stack of candies onto the desk with a sheepish smile. </p><p>“I know you’ve been stressed about exams, so I brought you some lollipops! Did you know that lollipops reduce stress?” Jeongin smiled at the made-up fact and pushed a few towards Hyunjin. </p><p>or:</p><p>The 5 times Jeongin brings Hyunjin candy, and the 1 time Hyunjin returns the favor</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>over the weekend we could turn the world to gold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow, never thought I’d see the day that Mr. Hwang Hyunjin would need tutoring,” Seungmin teased.</p><p>Hyunjin shoved his friend away and huffed. “It’s not tutoring for me; I’ve told you this a hundred times. I just want it to look good on my transcript.”</p><p>Seungmin just laughed it off and continued walking alongside Hyunjin.</p><p>Hyunjin hadn’t really wanted to tutor a younger student; it was annoying and such a chore. He had to stay after school for an hour every Tuesday, and while that shouldn’t seem like such a problem, Hyunjin was a senior who wanted to at least have a life outside of high school. Hyunjin had really only agreed to this because he wanted to get into a good university and his teacher had said it would look good on his record.</p><p>When Hyunjin reached the room he was supposed to meet the student in, he waved goodbye to Seungmin and entered.</p><p>The breath in his lungs was forced out and he choked back a cough at the student. They were <em>gorgeous. </em>They sat staring at the front of the room, eyes blinking blankly and shining in the light. They smiled at the sight of the tutor entering the room and Hyunjin nearly died.</p><p>Hyunjin couldn’t stop himself from tripping over his own feet as he made his way to the desk the student was sitting at.</p><p>“I’m Hyunjin,” he managed to choke out. He held out his hand and when the boy grabbed it, Hyunjin’s knees almost buckled. His hands were so s<em>oft, </em>his face was so <em>pretty,</em> and Hyunjin could’ve sworn he was going to pass out in the middle of this random science classroom.</p><p>The boy shook his hand with a bright smile and said, “I’m Jeongin.”</p><p>“Jeongin,” Hyunjin said under his breath. The name was so pretty and soft just like the boy in front of him. His smile hadn’t faltered for one moment. Hyunjin took a deep breath and pulled away, their hands dropping and Hyunjin flushing at the thought of wanting to hold his hand romantically.</p><p>Instead, Hyunjin turned away with a red face to place his backpack down and sit across from Jeongin at the desk. “What do you need help with?” He asked, looking back up at Jeongin.</p><p>Jeongin’s eyes widened for a second at the sudden eye contact before he gestured to the papers on the desk.</p><p>Hyunjin chuckled. “All of this? What don’t you understand?”</p><p>Jeongin just shook his head. “Everything. I don’t understand anything,” he mumbled. Hyunjin saw Jeongin’s fingers nervously tap a pencil against the wood of the desk and he reached out to grab it.</p><p>Hyunjin placed his hand over Jeongin’s and sent him a pitying smile, ignoring the rapid beating in his chest because of the contact.</p><p>“It’s alright, don’t worry. Where should we start?”</p><p>Jeongin visibly softened. His tense shoulders fell, and a smile pulled at his lips.</p><p>“I think here.” Jeongin pushed a paper towards Hyunjin and pulled his hand out from under Hyunjin’s, choosing to tuck in under his thigh instead.</p><p>Hyunjin’s smile fell, but he quickly replaced it with a face of concentration as he read over the paper. And then his face turned to one of sorrow.</p><p>“This is so hard, are you sure you’re a junior?”</p><p>Jeongin giggled and Hyunjin ascended. The sweet sound was the cutest thing he had ever heard.</p><p>“I’m sure. I just took an accelerated class… I’m realizing my mistake now.”</p><p>Hyunjin waved him off and pulled his focus back to paper, reading over it once more. Then he twirled it around and raised his eyebrows in the most comical way he could. He was satisfied when he heard Jeongin let out another laugh and wave his hand in front of his face, as if swatting something in front of him.</p><p>“I don’t know how to tell you this, Jeongin, but this is math I genuinely learned this year, and it’s pretty hard. I can try to teach you but I’m not sure if you’ll understand.”</p><p>Jeongin shook his head and reached into his backpack, pulling out a notebook. He pointed at it insistently. “Teach me.”</p><p>And so, Hyunjin did. Because despite only meeting Jeongin ten minutes ago, he was unnecessarily infatuated.</p><p>Jeongin’s concentrated face was adorable. His head tilted to the side as he scribbled numbers and words onto the page. Sometimes, his tongue would just peak out of the corner of his mouth when he came across something he truly didn’t understand. And Hyunjin would always take advantage of those moments.</p><p>He reached across the desk and gestured for Jeongin to give him the pencil, despite having his own. When Jeongin handed him the pencil, their fingers brushed against each other and Hyunjin could feel the electricity run through his body at the gentle sensation.</p><p>Hyunjin would write out a few things on the page and hand back the pencil. And when their fingers would brush again, the lightning that would flash through Hyunjin’s body was not ignored.</p><p>It took the entire hour for them to finish all the papers in front of Jeongin.</p><p>Jeongin just smiled up at Hyunjin as he neatly packed his papers away back into his backpack.</p><p>Hyunjin didn’t really know why he was waiting. Maybe he wanted to be able to see Jeongin’s smile for just a little bit longer, maybe he wanted to make his laugh again. But he stayed for just a few more minutes, watching as Jeongin took a sip from his water bottle and slung his bag over his shoulder.</p><p>They walked down the hallway together in silence. It was nice, for a few seconds. They could be a little less than tutor and student and could instead be maybe friends. Hyunjin smiled at the thought. Would Jeongin want to be his friend even if Hyunjin was older?</p><p>Hyunjin held open the door outside and smiled at Jeongin as he walked past.</p><p>Just before Hyunjin was about to say his goodbye, Jeongin spoke.</p><p>“I wanted to give you something.” He swung his backpack in front of him and dug through it, pulling out a single piece of wrapped candy. It looked like a peppermint.</p><p>Jeongin held it out in front of him, silently telling Hyunjin to take it.</p><p>Hyunjin stood still in shock. No one had ever done given him gifts because of <em>tutoring. </em>He shook his head, “It’s alright. You can have it.”</p><p>Jeongin shook his head in response and pushed the candy into Hyunjin’s hands. “It’s yours. I want you to have it.”</p><p>Before Hyunjin could argue, Jeongin was running down into the parking lot and into a car. He waved enthusiastically at the stock-still Hyunjin, who was still frozen in front of the door with the single piece of candy held delicately in his hands.</p><p>Hyunjin could barely register the world around him as he numbly waved back at Jeongin.</p><p>When Jeongin’s car was out of sight, he let out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He nearly collapsed onto the hot sidewalk as he stumbled towards his own car.</p><p>He tapped on the driver’s window, telling Seungmin to unlock the door. When he stepped in, he almost cried. The moments with Jeongin had been so nice and natural. The peppermint in his hand was keeping the lingering memory in his head.</p><p>Seungmin just laughed and hit his friend’s shoulder. “You should’ve seen your face when he pulled out the candy. Priceless!”</p><p>Hyunjin grumbled at the ruined atmosphere and unwrapped the candy, plopping it in his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>II.</p><p> </p><p>Hyunjin was nervous for the next bout of tutoring. He had nearly passed out at just meeting Jeongin. Who knew what would happen if they became friends and this became a usual thing?</p><p>When he stepped into the classroom, Jeongin was sitting at the same desk. But this time, he was looking out of the window and was completely unaware of Hyunjin’s presence.</p><p>Jeongin looked absolutely amazing in the glow of the sun. The light reflected off the window and casted rainbows over his skin. His tongue peeked out to lick at his lips and the moisture sparkled.</p><p>When he turned to look at the door, Hyunjin might have forgotten he was staring. Jeongin smiled and waved, and Hyunjin could only smile back. It was like a scene from a drama. Jeongin’s hair fluttered around when he turned, and Hyunjin could’ve sworn his legs swung in glee from under the desk.</p><p>Hyunjin set his things down and gestured to the table. “What do you have for work today?”</p><p>Jeongin reached down into his backpack and shrugged when he pulled out a single book. “I just have to read this.”</p><p>Hyunjin hummed in question. “Then why didn’t you just cancel today? Unless you need help reading too?”</p><p>Jeongin flushed at the question and shook his head. “I’m fine with reading, don’t worry. And um… I just wanted to come because I didn’t really have anything better to do. If you do then we can cancel today but… I just wanted some company… I guess.” Jeongin refused to make eye contact with Hyunjin and his face flushed at the prolonged staring.</p><p>Hyunjin was stuck in his thoughts. He didn’t have anywhere to go, and even if he did, he would much rather be here with Jeongin. He smiled at Jeongin’s words. He wanted company. Did he specifically want Hyunjin’s company?</p><p>“It’s alright. I’ll stay.”</p><p>Jeongin’s face turned even redder at the words and he smiled shyly. He picked up the book and held it in front of his face. “I guess I’ll just read then.”</p><p>Hyunjin giggled at his actions and pulled down the book from where it was covering Jeongin’s face. “You don’t like people seeing you read?”</p><p>Jeongin’s eyes found Hyunjin’s and his mouth dropped open to answer, but nothing came out. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he nodded slowly.</p><p>“It’s embarrassing. People say my concentrated face is ugly.”</p><p>Hyunjin’s mouth dropped open in an <em>o </em>shape and his grip tightened around the book in both their hands. “Your concentrated face is cute,” he pouted and watched as Jeongin’s face burst into flames. Hyunjin would be lying horribly to himself if he said it wasn’t the cutest thing he had ever seen.</p><p>He would also be lying if he said he was the confident one in the room. Because his heart was beating unnaturally fast and his hands had started to shake with their grip on the book in front of him.</p><p>Jeongin recovered quickly and lightly tugged the book back towards himself. “I’m going to read now,” he stuttered out and opened to book to a seemingly random page. But Hyunjin ignored it. At least now he could stare at Jeongin this time. Was he weird for that?</p><p>Hyunjin closed his eyes and shook his head. He couldn’t be thinking about that now. He reached down and pulled out his own homework to begin working. He tapped his pencil against his opposite wrist and stared intently at the words on the paper. It became increasingly hard with each sentence. He could feel the gaze of the boy in front of him glancing over every few seconds and eventually he pushed the papers away from him and dropped the pencil onto the desk.</p><p>Jeongin looked up from his book with wide eyes when Hyunjin groaned. He rubbed at his neck and looked over at Jeongin, who quickly covered his face again with the book and went back to reading. Hyunjin just leaned forward and rested his head on the desk. Homework was hard, especially under the constant watch of a boy that he found cute.</p><p>Hyunjin didn’t know how much time had passed before he felt Jeongin tap the top of his head lightly. Hyunjin sat up slowly and ran his fingers through his hair. He watched as Jeongin stared intently at the gesture and swallowed.</p><p>“Did you need something?” Hyunjin asked.</p><p>Jeongin snapped out of his thoughts at the words and let out a few curses before holding out something. Sitting in his palm was a piece of candy. This time a wrapped pack of gummy bears.</p><p>“You seem stressed about schoolwork. These might help.” Jeongin placed them gently on the stack of papers and pushed them back towards Hyunjin.</p><p>It was now Hyunjin’s turn to be surprised. He grabbed the bag of gummies with wide eyes and stared at Jeongin, as if asking for approval. Jeongin just nodded and blushed before directing his attention back to his book.</p><p>Hyunjin quietly opened the bag and popped a single gummy bear into his mouth. He barely had time to see the set of eyes peek out from over the book before they were gone again.</p><p>Hyunjin grabbed another gummy bear, this time reaching out and placing it under the book, between Jeongin’s elbows. Before he could make eye contact with Jeongin, he placed the bag of gummies next to him and picked up a pencil, hoping that now he would be able to focus.</p><p>He watched out of the corner of his eye as Jeongin smiled at the insignificant gift and put it in his mouth. He made the snack look delicious. The way he munched on it and smiled after he swallowed. He looked over at Hyunjin, but Hyunjin quickly directed his attention back to his work, hoping Jeongin hadn’t seen it.</p><p>Jeongin just snuck his hand around and stole another gummy bear. Hyunjin gasped at the sight and grabbed the small bag, holding it close to his chest.</p><p>“No stealing! You gave these to <em>me.</em>”</p><p>Jeongin just giggled and covered his face with the book again.</p><p> </p><p>III.</p><p> </p><p>The third time the two meet up for tutoring, Hyunjin swears he’s ready. He’s ready for whatever surprise Jeongin has for him.</p><p>He walks into the classroom and is surprised at the actual lack of Jeongin sitting at his usual desk. His bag is still there, but his body isn’t.</p><p>Hyunjin just sighs and walks over to the desk. He sets his things down and pulls out his phone, ready to ask if he would be able to leave early. He had been extremely tired these days with exams coming up and wasn’t sure if he would be able to make it through today’s tutoring session without falling asleep.</p><p>He tapped a message onto his phone slowly but deleted it. He didn’t want to cancel on a chance to see Jeongin.</p><p>He stared out of the window for a few minutes, wondering if Jeongin had just decided to ditch him. He frowned at the thought. He thought they had gotten at least a little bit close. The other day, Jeongin had even waved to him in the hallway.</p><p>He was snapped out his thoughts suddenly when someone grabbed onto his shoulders and whispered into his ear, “Sorry I’m late. I forgot something in my locker.”</p><p>Hyunjin jerked forward and bit back a scream, his tongue exploding in pain during the process. He let out a deep breath and turned back to see who was behind him.</p><p>It shouldn’t have been a surprise really. Jeongin stood behind him giggling, a handful of small lollipops in his hand.</p><p>“I didn’t know you got scared that easily.” Jeongin skipped around and took his seat across from Hyunjin with a smile. “I forgot these lollipops in my locker.”</p><p>Jeongin placed the large stack of lollipops onto the desk with a sheepish smile.</p><p>“I know you’ve been stressed about finals, so I brought you some lollipops! Did you know that lollipops reduce stress?” Jeongin smiled at the made-up fact and pushed a few towards Hyunjin.</p><p>Hyunjin endearingly smiled back at the younger boy. He grabbed a single lollipop and held it in between his fingers. “Is that so? Then I’ll have to take this entire stack to deal with the stress I’m under.”</p><p>Jeongin’s face fell at the words. “We really don’t have to do the tutoring today if it’s that bad. I don’t want to burden you anymore.” He shoved the bunch of lollipops toward Hyunjin and nodded his head at them.</p><p>Hyunjin shook his head. “You relieve my stress, you know? More than these lollipops.”</p><p>Jeongin’s eyes widened and he fell back into his chair. Hyunjin could tell he was anxiously bouncing his legs when one of them made contact with the bottom of the desk and he winced at the feeling.</p><p>Hyunjin unwrapped one of the lollipops and stuck it into his mouth. He crumpled the wrapper in between his fingers and stuffed it into his sweater pocket. He grabbed another lollipop and unwrapped it. Jeongin watched in confusion before Hyunjin was placing the lollipop right at his lips and prodding at them to open.</p><p>Jeongin opened his mouth obediently and Hyunjin placed the lollipop on top of his tongue, swirling it around a little bit. Jeongin grasped the stick of the lollipop and their fingers brushed together. They stared at each other, lollipops hanging from their lips.</p><p>Hyunjin looked away first, realizing his actions were slightly weird. He turned away and just reached into his bag to grab his textbook and his notebook. He brushed his hand over the desk and scattered the lollipops over it. Jeongin giggled at that and picked up a few to place away from the books.</p><p>Hyunjin took the lollipop out of his mouth and asked, “Would you like to help me study? Or do you have something else to do?”</p><p>Jeongin shook his head and opened his mouth to speak. He quickly realized the dilemma and took his own lollipop out of his mouth and smiled. “I don’t have anything to do. My exams are pretty easy.”</p><p>Hyunjin wanted to oppose the lack of studying, but Jeongin opened Hyunjin’s textbook and began reading it upside down. Hopefully, the lack of tutoring wouldn’t be reflected in Jeongin’s exam scores.</p><p>Hyunjin laughed when Jeongin tried reading the words out loud, also reading the sentences backwards. The paragraphs didn’t make any sense and were muffled by the lollipop in his mouth, but it didn’t stop Jeongin from reading them. Hyunjin giggled at him and tried making sense of the words, knowing it was useless.</p><p>“I need to take notes, can’t you at least try reading correctly?” Hyunjin teased. Jeongin sighed dramatically at the words and turned the textbook around, reading another part.</p><p>By the time Hyunjin had finished a proficient number of notes, his pockets were overflowing with lollipop wrappers and the table was nearly empty. He closed the textbook and stuffed it back into his backpack.</p><p>Jeongin gathered the rest of the uneaten lollipops. They no longer overflowed from his small palms. He shuffled his backpack onto his shoulders, trying not to let any fall.</p><p>He was unfortunately unsuccessful and dropped one lollipop after another and by the time he had his backpack fully on, he had dropped all but two lollipops onto the floor.</p><p>Jeongin squatted to the floor to pick them up at the same time Hyunjin did. They both reached towards the fallen lollipops, hands brushing against each other and forcing the two boys to look up at each other.</p><p>Their hands were frozen against each other as they stared into each other’s eyes. They were a little bit too close and Hyunjin could feel Jeongin’s short breaths against his cheeks. He could feel Jeongin’s breath hitch even when he slightly intertwined their fingers.</p><p>Hyunjin moved his hands around clumsily, intertwining their pinkies and picking up the lollipops in his other hand. He never broke eye contact, and neither did Jeongin. It was awkward, but Hyunjin couldn’t stop himself from staring into the deep, endless pools of Jeongin’s eyes.</p><p>His eyes flickered down to Jeongin’s delicate lips before immediately shooting back up. He hoped Jeongin hadn’t seen that.</p><p>He stood up with a shudder, breaking the contact. He shuffled the lollipops around and placed one into Jeongin’s hands.</p><p>“See you next week?”</p><p>Jeongin just nodded as Hyunjin rushed out of the room, dropping a few lollipops along the way.</p><p> </p><p>IV.</p><p> </p><p>When Hyunjin arrived in the classroom the next week, he was sure that today was going to be great. He had just finished his final exams and was ready for a break from studying and sleeping. He skipped into the classroom with a smile on his face.</p><p>But it quickly dropped off when he noticed Jeongin sitting at the desk, his hands twisting the hair on his head into painful looking swirls. He was slumped forward on the desk, chest moving heavily with his deep breaths.</p><p>Hyunjin rushed into the room and kneeled to the side of Jeongin. He placed a hand softly on his thigh and rubbed his thumb into it. “What happened?” He asked quietly.</p><p>Jeongin shook his head and shuffled away from Hyunjin. Hyunjin just pulled the chair back towards him, forcing Jeongin to sit up and look at him.</p><p>“Tell me what happened. Who do I need to fight?” Hyunjin pulled Jeongin’s wrists away from his face and rubbed into them with his fingers.</p><p>Jeongin tried to tug his wrists away, but Hyunjin kept a firm grip on them. “Go away, Hyunjin,” Jeongin grumbled. He kicked out his legs, but Hyunjin ignored the pain and stood up. He pulled Jeongin with him.</p><p>Bringing Jeongin close to his chest, he wrapped his hands around his shoulders and sighed. “Tell me what happened, or I’m staying here forever.”</p><p>He felt Jeongin let out a small laugh at the words and tightened his grip around Jeongin’s neck. “I’ll choke you too. Don’t underestimate me.”</p><p>Jeongin let out another giggle before wrapping his arms around Hyunjin’s waist and pulling him closer. He mumbled a few words into his shoulder, but mainly nuzzled his face into Hyunjin’s shoulder.</p><p>A few seconds later, Hyunjin could feel the tears seeping through his shirt and he patted Jeongin’s back lightly. “Shouldn’t a sweet boy like you be crying out jellybeans? Why are you staining my shirt with tears?”</p><p>Jeongin let out a weak giggle and pulled away from Hyunjin. He quickly grabbed Hyunjin’s hands though, Hyunjin liked it. Liked being a safe place for Jeongin despite only knowing each other for a short time. Like being here with him.</p><p>“I have jellybeans in my backpack,” Jeongin sniffled. He rubbed at his nose with his sleeve, bringing Hyunjin’s hand with him.</p><p>Hyunjin took the opportunity to rub under Jeongin’s swollen eyes with a small smile. He brushed away a small stray tear that ran down Jeongin’s cheek.</p><p>“Can you tell me what’s wrong while we snack on our gourmet feast of jellybeans?” Hyunjin cupped Jeongin’s cheek and tilted his face to the side.</p><p>Jeongin looked as if he was fighting back a smile, but eventually lost. He nodded with a smile and let go of Hyunjin’s hands. He kneeled to dig out a rather large bag of jellybeans and set them on the desk.</p><p>They sat across from each other as they always did, but this time, Hyunjin rested his hand out on the table, taking Jeongin’s into his. He rubbed his thumb across Jeongin’s palm and smiled as he stared at the skin contact.</p><p>Jeongin stuffed a few jellybeans into his mouth with his free hand and chewed on them. Hyunjin waited patiently, squeezing Jeongin’s hand a few times just because he wanted to.</p><p>And finally, when he swallowed and nodded, he squeezed Hyunjin’s hand back. Hyunjin’s breath caught in his throat at the motion.</p><p>“You don’t need to beat anyone up, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Jeongin said, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “It’s not anyone’s fault.”</p><p>Hyunjin stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt.</p><p>“I just got a call that my mom’s business got a really big offer and now they can expand to a bigger department.”</p><p>Hyunjin’s grip tightened around Jeongin’s hand. “So those were happy tears?” he asked. It came out several shades softer than what he wanted.</p><p>Jeongin just nodded.</p><p>“You had me seriously worried, Jeongin! With the way you were crying, I would’ve thought that your mom’s business had gone bankrupt!” Hyunjin exclaimed. His hand tightened around Jeongin’s hand impossibly more before releasing.</p><p>Jeongin let out a soft laugh. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>Hyunjin huffed sarcastically. “You should be. I thought someone had died!”</p><p>Jeongin shook his head and grabbed Hyunjin’s other hand. “Let’s just eat more jellybeans and forget that happened.”</p><p>Hyunjin pursed his lips, but the warm hands surrounding his own were too tempting and he couldn’t help but give in.</p><p>Jeongin reached in between them and held up a single jellybean. He pushed it towards Hyunjin’s mouth and shook it between his fingers. “C’mon, open.”</p><p>Hyunjin raised one of his eyebrows in challenge. “You sound like my dentist.”</p><p>But before he could say more, Jeongin shoved the jellybean into Hyunjin’s mouth with a giggle. Hyunjin immediately shut up and shook his head, but still smiled.</p><p>He swallowed the jellybean and shook his head when he saw another sitting prettily between Jeongin’s fingers. “That’s not a very nice thing…”</p><p>Once again, he was cut off as another jellybean made its way into his mouth.</p><p>And maybe, just <em>maybe </em>he was letting Jeongin get his way. Maybe he liked the way Jeongin’s fingers would brush over his lips every time. Maybe he liked the smile it brought to Jeongin’s face and the giggle that would spill out of his mouth like twinkling bells.</p><p>Hyunjin smiled again when Jeongin held up another jellybean. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth patiently. After a few seconds, he felt the jellybean being softly placed on top of his tongue.</p><p>He opened his eyes and saw Jeongin’s face only a few inches away from his. It was sudden and strange. A warm feeling poured itself into Hyunjin’s stomach, but he liked it. He liked it because it made him feel something. He liked it because <em>Jeongin </em>had caused it.</p><p>When Jeongin pulled away, his face was a bright red and Hyunjin burst into laughter at the reaction.</p><p>Hyunjin reached in between them to pick up another jellybean and held it up to Jeongin’s lips.</p><p>“Your turn.”</p><p>And all the tears and crying and pain from before were gone. And in their place were the jellybeans on the desk and Hyunjin’s fingers gently brushing against Jeongin’s lips.</p><p> </p><p>V.</p><p> </p><p>Hyunjin was surprised when he didn’t get a text from his teacher saying that Jeongin had cancelled this week’s tutoring session. Break was only two weeks away and it would’ve been nice to have some time to relax in the afternoons until then.</p><p>But he still showed up. He was attached to Jeongin, wanting to see his face and touch his hands. (Kiss his lips too).</p><p>Exams were over, and there wasn’t any real reason they should be meeting up. But when Hyunjin stepped into the classroom, Jeongin was sitting patiently at the desk, his backpack at his feet. He beamed at Hyunjin and tapped his feet excitedly. Hyunjin set his things down and reflected Jeongin’s smile.</p><p>“Do you have any plans for this afternoon?” Jeongin asked giddily. Hyunjin watched as his fingers tapped the desk in an uneven rhythm.</p><p>Hyunjin shook his head. “I don’t. Why?”</p><p>Jeongin’s smile grew even wider if it was possible. He stood up suddenly and grabbed his backpack. “Let’s go to the mall!”</p><p>The mall was only a few blocks away. They could walk there and back within the hour if they wanted to. So, Hyunjin nodded and gave in, grabbing his backpack and rushing out of the room after Jeongin.</p><p>They walked down the street, side-by-side. Their hands brushed occasionally, but Jeongin wasn’t acting on it, so Hyunjin decided not to either.</p><p>When they got to the mall, Hyunjin realized that he didn’t exactly have a plan. He had blindly followed Jeongin here. He didn’t know what they were doing here either. He had really completely fallen for Jeongin’s dumb smile and his dumb giggling.</p><p>He followed Jeongin around the busy mall. He didn’t know where they were headed, but he guessed it was okay as long as he was with Jeongin.</p><p>A few minutes of walking later, they stopped outside of a candy store. Hyunjin didn’t know what he had expected really.</p><p>Jeongin led the way inside and burst out into laughter at Hyunjin’s reaction to the scene. The walls were covered in candy; shelves of candy stood randomly around in the middle. But what was most surprising was the s<em>mell </em>of the shop. It was sweet and sugary and reminded Hyunjin vaguely of Jeongin. It was delicious and Hyunjin’s mouth began to water.</p><p>He hadn’t realized his eyes were closed until Jeongin was grabbing his arm and tugging him over to a shelf at the side of the shop. The containers were full of every single candy Hyunjin had ever seen and <em>more. </em>Jeongin grabbed a bag at the side and held it out to Hyunjin.</p><p>“C’mon, let’s get candy!”</p><p>Hyunjin slowly took the bag into his hands, watching as Jeongin giddily filled his own bag to the brim with sugar coated candy.</p><p>Hyunjin chuckled and began to fill his own bag with candy. Jeongin laughed with delight when he realized he could barely tie the top of his bag with how much he had filled it. Hyunjin tied the top of his and they made their way to the counter.</p><p>Hyunjin then realized that they did have to pay for these. He reached into his backpack to pull out his wallet before noticing that Jeongin had already slid a few dollar bills across the counter to the cashier. Hyunjin gaped at Jeongin, ready to argue against it, but Jeongin held a finger to Hyunjin’s lips and shook his head.</p><p>“Exams are over. Let me treat you.”</p><p>Hyunjin closed his mouth and put his wallet back into his backpack. He saw Jeongin smirk out of the corner of his eye and he playfully slapped his arm. “You could’ve let me. I wouldn’t have minded.” But Jeongin just shook his head, grabbing the bags of candy off the counter and handing one to Hyunjin.</p><p>They made their way out of the store and back into the mall. Jeongin giggled at the bag he had in his hands, holding it up to his eyes. Hyunjin quickly recognized that Jeongin did <em>not </em>have the bag that he had filled by himself, and it was instead in Hyunjin’s hands.</p><p>“Wait you have mine…” Hyunjin started, but he quickly trailed off as he glanced down at the overflowing bag in his hands.</p><p>“I never thought you would like Skittles. But they’re delicious, so I won’t complain.” Jeongin untied the knot at the top of the bag and dug his hand into it, bringing up a few pieces of candy to his lips.</p><p>So, Hyunjin went along with it. Jeongin was so unpredictable, but it was never unwelcomed. Hyunjin untied the bag in his hands, holding it carefully as to not let any spill over. He picked out a single piece of candy that was covered in sugar so heavy you almost couldn’t see the color of it. Hyunjin placed it delicately in his mouth and cringed immediately. It was <em>sour.</em></p><p>“Did you sabotage this bag?” Hyunjin muttered, sucking in his cheeks at the taste. Jeongin laughed at the reaction and nodded happily. “Little shit.” Hyunjin added on.</p><p>Jeongin just laughed more and stuffed a few more pieces of candy into his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>+1</p><p> </p><p>There’s a song playing in Hyunjin’s earphones when he walks into the classroom. It’s to distract him from the fact that he was possibly going to make a decision that would ruin his life. But he thought he had a pretty good chance. Even Seungmin had said he would be fine, but it didn’t stop him from being nervous.</p><p>Sitting at the desk is Jeongin. His fingers dance along the desk and his skin glows in the sun. Even though it’s been weeks since they’ve met, almost an entire month, it doesn’t stop Hyunjin from being completely breathless at the sight.</p><p>Jeongin has a large beaming smile on his face. Almost as if he’s ignoring the fact that this is their last tutoring session for the semester, just like Hyunjin is.</p><p>Hyunjin tugs his earphones out and skips to his seat across from Jeongin.</p><p>“How have you been?” Hyunjin asks. He rests his cheek in one of his hands and smiles at Jeongin.</p><p>Jeongin shrugs, ignoring the question and instead opting to say, “I wanted to give you something.”</p><p>Hyunjin sits up in surprise and makes a small questioning sound. Jeongin reaches down into his backpack and pulls out a small candy. A peppermint.</p><p>Hyunjin gasps and looks up at Jeongin as he places it down gently on the desk.</p><p>“Do you remember this?” Jeongin asks.</p><p>And Hyunjin scoffs, because how could he <em>forget</em>? That peppermint was really the last straw for Hyunjin’s feelings to completely combust and fall to pieces.</p><p>Hyunjin grabs it and holds it up to the light, pretending to examine it. “I cannot believe that you remembered this. I have so many memories with this peppermint.” It takes a few seconds, but then Hyunjin’s eyes are widening at his own words and he’s jerking his head over to Jeongin to see if he had noticed anything.</p><p>Jeongin tilts his head. “Memories with a peppermint?”</p><p>Hyunjin swallows thickly and nods but doesn’t elaborate. And Jeongin doesn’t force him to either, so they let the moment pass.</p><p>They sit there for a little bit. It’s quiet; too quiet for a last day together.</p><p>“I have something for you too, but you have to follow me to get it,” Hyunjin says softly. He stands up and pushes his chair back under the desk. “Do you want it?” He holds his hand out and watches endearingly as Jeongin smiles and takes it.</p><p>They continue holding hands as Hyunjin leads Jeongin out of the classroom and down the hallway they had walked through together the first time they met up for tutoring.</p><p>They don’t let go of each other’s hands, even when Hyunjin holds open the door outside, and even when they stand outside in the same spot where Jeongin had given Hyunjin the first peppermint.</p><p>Hyunjin lets out a sigh and looks up at the sky. “I know I’m older, but right now I feel like some dumb middle schooler.”</p><p>Jeongin laughs and rubs his thumb unconsciously against Hyunjin’s hand. Hyunjin feels his heart start beating faster and he wills it to calm down. It’s not helping his currently, at best, tragic mental state.</p><p>Hyunjin breathes out once more and digs through his sweater pocket.</p><p>There’s a small piece of paper, folded a few times. Inside of it is a small peppermint that he had specifically gone to the candy shop in the mall to find.</p><p>He hands it over to Jeongin and lets go of their hands. He regrets it, feeling the cold air brush against his hand, but he just clenches his hand into a fist.</p><p>He wants to close his eyes and forget about the embarrassing note that is written on the paper. But he keeps his eyes open, focusing on his shoes instead.</p><p>Everything is becoming extremely overwhelming too fast. He wants to run away. He wants to run to an empty classroom and hide in there.</p><p>His breathing quickens and everything is suddenly <em>too much </em>for him to handle.</p><p>“Oh my god,” he hears Jeongin say. “Are you serious?”</p><p>But the words are fading echoes of their original intent as Hyunjin collapses onto the sidewalk. His knees give out and hit the concrete. It’s so painful and horrible, but he can’t help the tears from pouring out of his eyes. <em>Yes</em>, of course he was serious. And the pain in his chest is also serious.</p><p>Hyunjin clutches the fabric in the front of his shirt and it still feels as if it’s suffocating him.</p><p>The world is collapsing in on itself and the sky is falling, and all Hyunjin can see is Jeongin’s shoes in front of him. Hyunjin can’t breathe. Hyunjin can’t focus his eyes. All Hyunjin can feel is pain. He clenches his eyes tight shut as the tears roll down his face like a raging waterfall.</p><p>And then everything is interrupted.</p><p>Two hands are on his shoulders. There’s a figure kneeling in front of him. Their face is too close, but it’s welcome. There are words being spoken, but Hyunjin can barely hear them, much less understand them.</p><p>When he finally looks up, he can barely see the figure before someone’s lips are on his and he can only pray that they’re Jeongin’s. His hands leave his own shirt and instead fist into Jeongin’s, pulling him closer until they’re as close as they can be.</p><p>There are no fireworks when they kiss.</p><p>Instead, there’s an explosion of sugar and sweetness because this kiss is exactly how eating your favorite candy is. This kiss is exactly what you would expect from two candy obsessed boys. This kiss tastes like peppermints and gummy bears and lollipops and jellybeans and a combination of every single candy you can find at a candy shop. Specifically, the candy shop at the mall.</p><p>This kiss is everything Hyunjin wants because it tastes like candy and it tastes like <em>Jeongin.</em></p><p>They only pull away when they need to breathe. Hyunjin gasps for air, his eyes shooting open to stare at the person kissing him. And who else did he really expect? Who else tastes sweet like candy?</p><p>“Were you serious about what you said?” Jeongin breathes out. He leans in close, hesitating to connect their lips again.</p><p>Hyunjin chastely presses their lips together again and smiles. “Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>Jeongin leans back into Hyunjin and presses their foreheads together.</p><p>“You taste like candy,” Jeongin whispers, like it’s a secret only the two are allowed to know.</p><p>“So do you.”</p><p>And when they kiss again it’s like the first time all over again. Because the explosion of sweetness is unbearable but so insatiable at the same time.</p><p>Hyunjin wraps his arms around Jeongin’s shoulders and tugs him close, close, close.</p><p>Jeongin pulls away just barely to suck in another breath. Hyunjin beams at his flushed face.</p><p>“I’m so glad you got me that peppermint,” he says before bringing their lips together again because he could never resist the candy coating on Jeongin’s perfect lips.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ummmm i hope you enjoyed this lol,,, it's my first fanfic for stray kids! i really love their dynamic with each other and it's so precious.</p><p>the title is from run away with me by carly rae jepsen! </p><p>please tell me if you notice anything! i wrote this and only edited it once-</p><p>i would love to hear your feedback!!! tysm have a great day :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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